Supreme Court hears 6 Jan case that may hit Trump trial
By Nadine Yousif
The US Supreme Court have begun hearing a case that could undo charges for those who stormed the Capitol in 2021.
It focuses on whether a 2002 federal law created to prevent corporate misconduct could apply to individuals involved in the 6 January riots.
More than 350 people have been charged in the incident under that law, which carries a 20-year prison penalty.
Donald Trump faces the same charge in the pending federal case accusing him of election interference.
The law makes it a crime to “corruptly” obstruct or impede an official proceeding.
On Tuesday, Supreme Court Justices heard two hours of arguments over the law’s interpretation. However, it remained unclear how they would rule.
A lawyer for a man who stormed the Capitol and was prosecuted under the law argued before the Justices that “a host of felony and misdemeanour” crimes already exist to prosecute his client’s actions.
The 2002 law passed in the wake of the Enron accounting scandal, Jeffrey Green said, was not one of them.
